Coat hanger separator



P 1963 c. WILDE COAT HANGER SEPARATOR Filed June 10, 1960 INVENTOR.

' Caz/v5. Z. 1444 DE BY W 3,085,724 Patented Apr. 16, 1963 Fire3,085,724 COAT HANGER SEPARATOR Comel L. Wilde, 1003 Wallace Ridge,Beverly Hills, Calif. Filed June 10, 1960, Ser. No. 35,209 1 Claim.((11. 22385) This invention relates to a coat or garment hanger. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to a hanger having means toseparate or space it by a predetermined distance from a similar hangerwhen the two are positioned in adjacent relationship upon a pole or thelike.

Both in commercial establishments such as stores or cleaning andpressing shops and in home clothes closets or wardrobes, the storage ofa plurality of garments on the usual clothes pole frequently results inexcessive wrinkling of the garment due to the fact that they are packedtogether too closely. Such overcrowding can, of course, be prevented byproviding a plurality of separate hooks upon which one hanger only is tobe positioned or by providing special clothes poles or attachments forclothes poles which effectively convert the normally smooth continuoussurface of the pole into a plurality of notches, ridges, or otherhook-like arrangements serving the same function as a plurality ofseparate hooks. However, each of these arrangements imposes on the userthe expense andchore of providing special equipment such as hooks or thelike in order to solve what is essentially a nuisance problem.

It is thus an object of this invention to provide a garment hangerhaving as an integral part thereof a separating means which willinherently and automatically space adjacent hangers from each other whenthey are supported on any conventional continuously smooth surfaced poleor the like.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a coat hangerseparator means which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, but isnonetheless durable and effective in use.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide such a separatormeans which is pivotally mounted on a hanger for motion between a firstoperative spacing position and a second retracted storage position.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide such a coathanger separator which can be manufactured as an integral part of thehanger or can be mounted integrally thereon by the user and which isthus available for use without requiring the provision of other specialequipment or facilities by the user.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will bemore fully apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingsin which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout andwherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing two adjacent hangers each havingits separator horizontally extended in its operative spacing position.

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view, partly in section, showing theseparators of FIGURE 1 in greater detail and showing in dashed lines theretracted storage position for one of the separators.

FIGURE 3 is a top view of the separator shown in FIGURE 2 and is takengenerally on the line 33 of FIGURE 2, the manner of pivotal operationand locking being illustrated by the dashed line showing.

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the separator structure shown inFIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view of the parts of the separatorattachment before assembly with the hanger.

Turning now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG- URE 1 a clothes pole10 having a generally circular cross section and mounted in anyconvenient manner to support a plurality of garment hangers. By way ofillustration, there is shown first and second hangers 11 and 12,respectively, suspended in adjacently positioned relationship from theclothes pole 10. The hangers 11 and 12 have bodies preferably made ofwood, shaped to the conventional wishbone pattern and rounded or bent toconform to the rear shoulder contour of a garment such as the coat 13.

Since the hangers 11 and 12 are identical in every respect, thefollowing detailed description will be primarily directed to thestructural features of hanger 11 with corresponding parts of hangers 12being indicated by adding the prime symbol to the correspondingreference character.

The hanger 11 shown by way of example has the above noted arcuate andcurved wishbone structure, but it will be understood that the hangerbody could have any desired shape. The body of hanger 11 is supportedfrom the clothes pole 10 by a hook having a first vertical portion 14awhich extends through an aperture drilled in the center of the hanger11, as may be best seen in FIG- URE 4. The bottom portion of the section14a protrudes outwardly from the bottom of the hanger body and is curvedupwardly in a hook 14b which securely attaches it to the hanger byseating in a second aperture in the hanger body. The verticallyextending portion 14a is integral with a horizontal offsetting portionwhich in turn integrally merges with a second vertically extendingportion 14d. The top of the vertically extending portion 14d integrallymerges with a'reentrant oblique portion 14c which may, for example,conveniently make an angle of approximately 30 with the vertical sidesection 14d. The upwardly extending oblique portion Me in turn mergeswith a symmetrically downwardly extending oblique portion 14f which inturn merges with a generally vertically downwardly extending oppositeside portion 14g. The second side portion 14g is generally opposite tothe first side portion 14d, but may flare slightly outwardly from exactparallelism therewith and does not extend downwardly as far as thebottom of portion 14d. The opening formed between the offset portion 140and the second side portion 14g is made large enough to receive anyconventional clothes pole or other hanger supporting means.

The supporting hook 14 formed by the above-described plurality ofstraight sections 14d, 142, 14), and 14g is thus adapted to make atleast two and normally three points of contact with supporting rods ofvarious sizes. Thus, as may be seen in FIGURE 4, the members 14d, 14c,and 14] are adapted to contact the rod 10 and in any event the two uppersections 14c and 14 will provide separate oppositely disposed weightbearing contact points. The hanger is thus stably supported on the rod10 and is at least partially restrained from rotation about the rod toassist in preventing displacement of the separator member from itsintended position and to facilitate the initial establishment of thatintended position.

The separator or spacer member 15, as maymostclearly be seen in FIGURES1 and 5, is formed from metal rod stock which may, for example, be ofsubstantially A3" diameter and comprises a generally U-shaped re-entrantportion 15a the side members of which are adapted to seat around thevertical central portion 14a of the hook 14' of the next adjacent hanger12. Inasmuch as the separator member 15 is rigidly attached to thehanger 11 in a manner to be described below, this seating of thereentrant U-shaped portion 15a about the upright stem 14a of the hook14' holds the two hangers 11 and 12 in spaced relationship by apredetermined minimum distance without in any way interfering with theready sliding or other handling of either of the hangers.

Turning again to FIGURE 5, it will be noted that the separator member 15further comprises a pair of colinear generally horizontally extendingspaced opposed pivot members 15b and 150, respectively. Extending atright angles upwardly from the outermost ends of the members 15b and 15care a pair of parallel arm members 15d and 15e, respectively, which inturn merge integrally in right angular or perpendicular relationship toa normally horizontally extending pair of arm members 15 and 15g,respectively, leading to the outermost edges of the reentrant U-shapedseating member 15a. It will be understood that in practice theseparately indicated parts 15a through 15 are merely sections of asingle piece of spring metal rod which is bent to the shape shown inFIGURE 5 by any convenient stamping or other process.

It will further be noted that the pair of horizontally extending opposedpivot members 15b and 15c can be brought closer to each other, asindicated by the arrows in FIGURE 5, when the opposed parallel sides 15dand 15e of the separator member are compressed against the resilience ofthe U-shaped member 15a which acts as a spring.

The separator member 15 in operation is seated in a bracket or shoemember 16 which in turn is attached to the body of the hanger. The shoemember 16 may, for example, comprise a back plate 16a having a surfacecontour adapted to seat on the surface of the hanger 11 and in which apair of holes 16b are provided to receive screws or other fasteningmeans for attaching the shoe 16 to hanger 11. As may be seen in FIGURE4, plate 16a is positioned on hanger 11 so that arm 15 and 15g arenormally positioned above the top of the body of hanger 11 so thatportion 15a will also be above the top of the body of hanger 12.

The shoe 16 is provided at the lower horizontal edge of the back plate161: with an upwardly rolled ear member 160 which has a radius ofcurvature substantially equal to the radius of the stock from which theseparator member 15 is fabricated and which is otherwise shaped andpositioned so as to be adapted to receive the two horizontally extendingpivot members 15b and 15c. The ear member 16c thus has a length which isless than the length of the lower edge of the back plate 16a. In orderto facilitate assembly, the width is also less than the maximum spacingbetween the members 15b and 150 which can be produced by separatingthese two members against the spring action of U-shaped member 15a tothereby fit members 15b and 150 into ear 16c. On the other hand, thelength of the ear member 16a is great enough so that it may serve as aretaining pivot seat or sleeve for the two members 15b and 150, whentheir outer edges are spaced apart by a distance equal to the width ofthe lower edge of the plate member 16a.

The outer edges of the members 1512 and 150 (which are urged apart bythe spring action of the member 15a) are confined to this maximumseparation by the ear members 16d and 16:: formed at the lower ends ofthe sides of the plate member 16a. When the separator 15 is in itshorizontal operative position, the ear members 161 and 16g on the uppercorners of the side of the plate member 16:: serve not only to lock theseparator 15 in its horizontal operative position, but also as a stopfor arms 15d and 15e so as to maintain the above-noted maximum spacingof the outer edges of the pivot members 15b and 15c at a distance notgreater than the width of the plate member 16a.

It will be noted that the upper pair of ear members 16f and 16g are bentinwardly in a semi-circular or U-shaped fashion to define a pair ofseats into which the uprights 15d and 15e may be placed in lockingrelationship by first compressing the sides of the separator 15 again-stthe action of the spring 15a, positioning the side members 15d and 15eadjacent the ears 16 and 16g, and then letting these members expand intothe seats defined by the ears. This latter type of locking action isillustrated by the arrows in FIGURE 4.

From FIGURES 4 and 5 the manner of assembling and securing the separator15 to the shoe 16 will also be apparent. In particular, it will be notethat the shoe 16 is originally manufactured as shown in FIGURE 5 withthe ears 16d and 16e extending outwardly substan tially in the plane ofthe back plate 16a so that the members 15b and can be spread apart andthen inserted in the opposite ends of the rolled up ear 16c. The sidemembers 15d and 15e of the separator 15 are then compressed until theyseat against the end of car 160. The side members are held in thisposition while the ears 16d and 16a are bent forwardly as indicated bythe arrows in FIGURE 5 until they assume a perpendicular relationship tothe back plate 16a as shown in FIGURE 4. When the side members 15d and151; are then released, the spring 15a will urge them apart until theouter sides of the upright members 15d and 152 are stopped against theperpendicular ears 16d and 162.

The separator member 15 is thus permanently and securely held inpivotally mounted relationship to the shoe 16 by the lower horizontalear which forms a pivot housing or bearing for the two members 15b and150 and by the ears 16d and 16e which act as stops to prevent the sidemembers 15d and 150 from again being sprung far enough apart to removethe end members 15b and 150 from pivot seat 16c. The separator 15 isthus pivotally locked to the shoe 16.

As indicated by the arrows in FIGURE 4, however, the side members 15dand 150 can still be compressed inwardly so that the distance betweentheir outer edges is less than the distance between the inner edges ofears 16f and 16g whereby the separator 15 may be pivoted upwardly fromthe dotted line position of the separator 15' (shown in FIGURE 2) to thehorizontal solid line position in which the sides 15d and 152 have beencompressed sufiiciently to clear the inner edges of the ears 16f and 16gand have then been permitted to extend in locking relationship into theseats formed by these ear members.

As noted above, the separator 15' on the hanger 12 is shown forconvenience of illustration in FIGURE 2 both in solid lines in itshorizontal or upward position where it is locked in the operativeposition by ears 16 and 16g and in its lowered or retracted position(indicated in dashed lines) wherein it is freed from the locking ears16f and 16g and is pivoted downwardly so that the normally horizontallyextending arms 15f and 15g have assumed a substantially verticalposition. Since the arms 15f and 15g are longer than the normallyhorizontal arms 15d and 15s, the total protrusion from the hanger 12 isless in this dashed line or retracted position in which the arms 15d and15a protrude horizontally. This lowered position may be used either topermit closer packing of the garments Where this is positively desiredor to facilitate packing or shipping of a plurality of hangers stackedin a single box. Of course, it will be understood that although thedashed line position is shown only for the separator 15 for the sake ofclarity of the drawing, the separator 15 also pivots to the downwardretracted position in exactly the same manner.

As was noted above, and as can be seen from FIG- URES 3 and 4, either ofthe separators :15 or 15 is placed in the horizontal operative lockedposition by compressing the members 15 and 15g against the action of thespring 15a, thereafter pivoting the member 15a upwardly about the axisof ear 16c until the arms 15d and 15e are opposite ears 161 and 16g, andthereafter releasing the arms 15f and 15g so that the spring 15a canfreely urge them into locked seated relationship within the curved ears16] and 16g. Of course, the process of unlocking the separators so thatit may be pivoted downwardly to its retracted position is simply theopposite of the above-noted locking process. That is to say, the armsand 15g are squeezed together and the separator may then freely pivotdownwardly. In either the locking or the unlocking process, the ends ofthe ear 160 form the inner stop for the side members 15g and 15a whereasthe perpendicular lower ears 16d and 162 form the outer stop for theseside members. Thus, in either the horizontal locked operative positionor the vertical retracted position, the separator 15 is pivotallysecured to the shoe 16 in permanent fashion.

When the separator 15 is locked in its horizontal operativerelationship, it assumes the position shown in FIG- URE 1 in which theU-shaped re-entrant portion 15a securely seats around the upright 14a ofthe hook 1 4 of adjacent hanger 12 thereby establishing a minimumpredetermined distance between these two hangers L1 and 12. It will, ofcourse, be understood that the separator 15 can be dimensioned to varythis predetermined distance as desired for any particular application.In one particular exemplary embodiment, however, it has been foundconvenient to provide side arms 15] and 15g having a total length ofapproximately 3 and to provide a re-entrant U portion 15a having a depthof about /2" from the end of the side arms. The shoe 16 may convenientlybe made about 1" in height and 1 /2 in width so that the maximum normalspacing between the inside arms 15 and 15g would also be about 1 /2.

While a particular preferred exemplary embodiment of of the inventionhas been described in detail above, it will be understood thatmodifications and variations therein may be eifected without departingfrom the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention, as defined by the following claim.

I claim:

Separator means for a garment hanger of the type having a body memberadapted to support a garment and having means to suspend said bodymember from a support, said separator means comprising: spacer meansshaped to protrude a predetermined distance from said body member, saidspacer means being formed by a pair of spaced apart and generallyL-shaped arm members having a pair of opposed pivot members extending inwardly from corresponding ends thereof at substantially right angles tosaid arm members and being integrally joined by a U-shaped spring memberat their other ends; and bracket means for detachably and pivotallymounting said spacer means on said body member for motion between afirst retracted position and a second operative position, said bracketmeans comprising a plate member adapted to be secured to said hangerbody member and a plurality of cars on said plate member, one of saidears being formed at the lower edge of said plate member and beingadapted to receive said pivot members, a first opposed pair of said earsbeing formed at the bottom corners of said plate member and beingadapted to act as stops to maintain said pivot members in said one ear,and a second pair of said ears being formed at the top corners of saidplate to receive said L-shaped arms when said arms are compressedagainst the action of said spring and thereafter released into said earsto thereby lock said spacer means in said operatve position, said spacermeans when in said operative position extending generally horizontallyfrom said bracket mounting means by said predetermined distance toengage said U-shaped portion with an adjacent hanger suspended from saidsupport to maintain said hangers in spaced apart relationship by atleast said predetermined distance.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS945,729 Rangnow Jan. 4, 1910 1,483,058 Frank Feb. 5, 1924 1,804,919Dockett May 12, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS 959,780 France Oct. 10, 1949

